


Desires in Another Mirror

by cosmic_llin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Early Work, Family, Gen, Multi, Unfinished and Discontinued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-13
Updated: 2006-04-12
Packaged: 2017-10-19 20:06:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/204718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmic_llin/pseuds/cosmic_llin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Almost six years after he first looked into the Mirror of Erised, Harry's still wishing for a family, still wishing that his parents hadn't died on that night in October. He's about to get his wish. But it won't be what he was expecting, and things aren't quite what they seem...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is discontinued and WILL NOT be completed.
> 
> Characters do not belong to me, I am making no profit.

Harry only visited Grimmauld Place once, that whole summer.

It was different now - last year the Weasleys had been there, and the kitchen had always been buzzing with activity. Mrs Weasley would be baking or cleaning or singing along to the WWN, Tonks and Ginny would be cooking up some scheme or other, Kingsley might drop in for lunch, Sirius would be...

Harry stopped himself. It hurt to think about Sirius. Sometimes he wanted to feel it, but just now he didn't. He was busy.

Mr Weasley had suggested that Harry might like to visit the Order headquarters for a little while, to see everyone there. A lot of the members were very fond of him - he got the feeling that they thought of him as some sort of mascot. He didn't really mind.

So he had come, tonight, a couple of days before he was due to start back at Hogwarts. Mr Weasley had come too, and they were spending the night, because it wasn't safe to travel after dark and Mrs Weasley worried.

So Harry had seen everyone, and everyone had asked him how he was, and whether he had finished all of his homework, and if he'd had a good summer at the Burrow. They had all said how sorry they were about Sirius. He had said how sorry he was about Miss Vance. There had been some talk about the war, and some idle gossip about this and that, and then everyone had had to go off and do various things, and Mr Weasley had gone up to bed.

Harry had sat at the kitchen table a while longer. Seeing the Order without Sirius in their midst had shaken him a little. He found it difficult, for some reason, not to be angry with them all.  _He_  was Sirius' godson, and they had all known him better than he did. It wasn't fair. And they had all known his parents, too, and that was even less fair.

At around three in the morning, Harry had been gripped by a sudden urge to explore the house. It was all he had left of Sirius. Perhaps he had left an impression on the place, somewhere. Perhaps there was something that Harry could keep as a reminder of his godfather.

And so Harry wandered aimlessly along the corridors, looking into rooms every now and then. He didn't know how long he wandered - perhaps a few hours. At any rate, it was getting light by the time he found the mirror.

It was in one of the bedrooms that they hadn't got around to cleaning last summer. It was a large, golden-framed mirror. Harry could barely see his reflection, staring back at him through a thick film of dust. The mirror reminded him of the Mirror of Erised - there was even an inscription across the top, just like that. It said:  _Accidunt_   _omnia uspiam._

But this wasn't the Mirror of Erised, and it felt like he had seen that last in another world entirely. He had only been eleven years old, with no idea of the way his life would change. He hadn't even met Sirius then. He hadn't met Lupin. Voldemort had still been just a disembodied creature, helpless without assistance from some hapless servant.

Back then, he had seen a family in the Mirror. He had seen his parents, alive and well and happy, and his grandparents, and a host of other family members. But now he was sixteen, and sadder and wiser. He wondered what he would see in the Mirror of Erised, were he to look in it again now.

Would he see himself as an Auror? Would he see himself defeating Voldemort for good? Would he see himself, reading his excellent NEWT results? Winning his first international Quidditch match?

No.

He hadn't changed that much. He imagined that he would still see his family, waving happily at him from behind the smoky glass. But now, Sirius would be there, too, arm in arm with James. Perhaps there would be other children, too. Spending time with the Weasleys had made him see what a good thing it could be to have siblings.

Things could have been so different.

Harry sighed, and wiped some of the dust from the mirror with his sleeve.

Suddenly, the mirror lit up, so brightly that Harry had to squeeze his eyes shut against the dazzle. His hands reached out for the mirror, to try and switch off whatever he had switched on, and suddenly he was falling, and now instead of too bright, everything was dark...


	2. Chapter 2

'Harry? Harry, come on, everyone else is up already!' 

Harry was being bounced up and down - someone was jumping on his bed. For a moment he kept his eyes closed, irritated, wanting to go back to sleep. Then his eyes snapped open as he realised - who would be jumping on his bed? 

It was a girl, perhaps ten or eleven years old, with long black hair and a gap between her teeth. She watched him as he opened his eyes, then bounced once more for good measure. 

'Come  _on_!' she said. 'We haven't got all day!' 

'I... who are you?' Harry asked, sitting up and grabbing for his glasses, which proved to be on a bedside table behind him. 'What am I doing here?' 

'Lazing around in bed when you should be up and ready to go, is what you're doing!' she said. 'And I'm Daisy, of course. You know Marigold has short hair now, we don't look anything alike any more, but still nobody can remember which is which. And I think it's disgraceful that our own brother still can't tell us apart.' 

'Brother?' Harry murmured. 

'Yes, brother, you know, male sibling? Now stop being silly and get up! We need to get going!' 

Harry stared at her for a moment, then got out of the bed, slowly and uncertainly. 

'Oh, alright, I'll go!' she said. 'I'm not going to watch you get dressed or anything! Just hurry up!' 

And she dashed out, closing the door behind her. Harry looked around. It looked like a perfectly ordinary bedroom - wardrobe, chest of drawers, shelf of books and various bits and pieces. There was a remembrall, and a quaffle, and a wizard chess set. On the walls there were posters of quidditch teams, and a few bands Harry didn't recognise. There were clothes strewn on the floor and bits of parchment and books scattered across the desk in the corner. 

Harry dug in the chest of drawers for some clothes, then got dressed, thinking hard.  _What_  had that mirror at Grimmauld Place done? Was this real? He  _had_  been thinking about having brothers and sisters, just before the mirror had... done whatever it had done... 

He gazed at his reflection in the apparently perfectly ordinary bedroom mirror as he brushed his hair, and then arranged it as usual to cover his... 

His scar. It was gone. He ran a finger wonderingly over his smooth, unblemished forehead. 

'Harry! Up! Now!' someone yelled up the stairs. 

It was probably safest to play along for now. 

'Coming!' Harry called back, then took one more look at his reflection before dashing out of the room. 

He walked down the stairs slowly - there were photographs on the wall all the way down. The first one he recognised - it was himself as a baby, and his parents, looking proud and waving delightedly at the camera. He had a copy of that himself. Next, there was a more formal portrait - his parents, sitting together with three children. One of them was Harry himself, perhaps four years old. Then there was a toddler, and a baby in Lily's lap, cooing and giggling at the photographer. The next showed Lily, heavily pregnant, at the seaside with Harry, perhaps six, and another boy about the same age who looked oddly familiar. As Harry descended, the children in the pictures grew older, and so did Lily and James. The last picture was another formal family group, but before he had a chance to inspect it the door at the bottom of the stairs opened and someone came to stand at the foot of the stairs. 

'Come on, sweetheart, I want you to have some breakfast before we go,' said Lily. 

Harry's heart was suddenly in his throat, and his eyes swam with tears. His mother was standing in front of him, talking about breakfast as though things were perfectly normal. Her voice sounded different - in his memories he heard her screaming, pleading, her voice choked with terror, but now she sounded sweet, and wonderful. 

Harry came down the last two steps and fell into his mother's arms, clinging to her tightly, eyes squeezed shut. 

'What's the matter, darling?' she asked, hugging him back. 

'I... I just wanted a hug,' Harry said, drawing away. 'I'm sorry I got up so late.' 

'Oh, well, we're used to it by now,' she said, with a sigh. 

She looked at him. He was smiling broadly, unable to help himself. 

'You are a funny boy,' she said, ruffling his hair fondly. 'Come on, breakfast.' 

He followed her through the door, and found himself in a large kitchen. There were things frying on the stove, and several people sat around the big wooden table. Harry went to sit, staring around at... his family, he supposed. 

'Last one up again, eh, Harry,' said his father, with a chuckle, as Harry drew up a chair next to him. 

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Lily put a plate of toast in front of him. 

'There you go, sweetheart,' she said. 'Anyone want seconds?' 

Several voices piped up at once, and Lily went back to make some more. 

'Could you pass the butter please... Daisy?' said Harry. His voice sounded strange to himself. 

She scooted it across the table to him, and he buttered his toast, looking around the table. His father sat at the head. He really did look an awful lot like Harry, but he was older, more tired than he looked in the photos Harry had seen of him. But then, Harry supposed, he was some fifteen years older than he was in those photos. On James' left was Daisy, then another girl beside her who was her double, except that her hair only just brushed her shoulders, while Daisy's was almost waist-length. That must be Marigold, Harry supposed. Next to Marigold was a slim, thoughtful-looking boy around Harry's age with blond hair. He looked familiar, somehow, but then they all did - they all reminded him of himself, of his parents. On James's other side, next to Harry, there were two more children, a boy and a girl, perhaps about eleven and fourteen. They both had red hair, and green eyes. 

Lily came back over with a large plate of toast, which she put in the centre of the table before taking her seat opposite James. All of the children reached eagerly for it. 

'Pass the jam, Harry,' said the red-haired girl. He did so. 

'Who has the marmalade?' asked Marigold. 

'Just a minute,' said the blond boy, spreading it onto his toast slowly and carefully. 

'Oh, come on, Dudley!' said Marigold. 'You always take forever with the marmalade.' 

_Dudley?_  Harry stared at the blond boy. Now that he knew that this was his cousin, he could see it - the same blue eyes, the same bow-shaped mouth, the same round nose. But he was... slim. And smiling and friendly, and talking quite normally with the red-haired boy, instead of shouting or throwing a tantrum. Harry ate his toast, but barely tasted it. He concentrated on watching his family. 

'Now,' said Lily, once the last pieces of toast had been polished off, 'we all know that today is the last day of the summer holidays, and most of you horrible lot will be going back to school tomorrow.' The children were silent, gazing excitedly at one another. Clearly they had been waiting for this. 'And so,' Lily continued, 'today, we're going to take you somewhere exciting. Somewhere wonderful...' 

'Somewhere we go every last day of the summer holidays,' James interrupted with a grin. 

'THE WEASLEY PICNIC!' the children cried, all at once. Daisy actually stood up on her chair and jumped up and down. 

'Do we stand on chairs at the breakfast table?' Lily asked. 

'I'm guessing the answer is "no",' said Daisy, getting down. 

'Bill should be Apparating here with our Portkey any minute,' said James. 'So I want everyone to be ready to go. Hair brushed, shoes on, all that stuff. Get going!' 

The children scrambled to get up the stairs and get ready. Harry followed them, going into the room where he had woken up and managing to find his own shoes. He couldn't stop smiling. He considered, briefly, that this might be some kind of trick, but he didn't believe that anyone could fake this. It was too real to be a dream. The only explanation was that that mirror in Grimmauld Place had somehow transported him into a different version of his life, where his parents had never died. 

He wanted to get back to his own version of reality, of course he did. But at the moment, he had no idea how. He supposed finding the mirror and going back through would work, but he had no idea whether he would be able to get to Grimmauld Place. For the moment it seemed best to keep quiet and just go along with everything. And it couldn't hurt to enjoy it. 

In a few minutes, they were all back in the kitchen. 

'Look, look, there's Bill!' cried Daisy, pointing out of the window. 

She was right; the Weasleys's eldest son was approaching up the footpath, with a deflated football under one arm. 

'Everyone got everything they need?' asked Lily, finishing packing cakes into a tin and giving it to James while she slipped her shoes on. 'Got your wands, Harry, Victoria, Edward? Shield hats, Daisy and Marigold and Dudley?' 

Harry had stuck his wand in his pocket out of habit, but he hadn't been expected to be allowed to use it. Perhaps the rules about underage magic were different here. 

'Morning, Potters!' said Bill, letting himself in. 'Quickly now, the Portkey's going to go any minute.' 

They all crowded around the deflated football, and after a few moments Harry felt a pulling sensation, and all of them found themselves in a large field. There was bunting stringing itself around the edge of the field, a large table laden with food, and several other people appearing, transported by Portkey. 

There were people that Harry recognised - many, in fact. There was Luna Lovegood, with a man who must be her father, laying out a large picnic blanket. There were Fred and George, conjuring some chairs for the new arrivals. There - Harry felt a lump in his throat - was Cedric Diggory, throwing a quaffle back and forth with his father, as his mother watched. The last time Harry had seen Cedric, the bold Hufflepuff had just been murdered by Lord Voldemort. The last time Harry had seen Amos Diggory, he had been weeping for his dead son. Harry felt warm inside, seeing them so happy. 

'Harry! Oi, Harry!' 

Harry turned to see Ron and Hermione running towards him. Hermione caught him in a tight hug, and Ron patted him on the back. 

'Good summer, mate?' Ron asked. 

'Yeah, not bad,' said Harry. 'You?' 

'Yeah, it was alright, wasn't it?' Ron said, turning to Hermione. 

'Yes, not bad,' she agreed. 'Could have been worse. I can't wait to get back to school tomorrow, though.' 

'Typical,' said Ron, rolling his eyes. 

'Education is more important these days than ever...' Hermione began, but Ron cut her off. 

'We know, we know, we'll be getting this lecture from McGonagall tomorrow anyway. Let's just enjoy ourselves today, eh?' 

'Alright then, you win - this time,' she said, kissing him on the cheek. She turned to Lily. 'Do you need Harry for anything?' she asked. 

'No, that's alright,' laughed Lily. 'You three run off. We'll see you later, Harry dear.' She ruffled his hair and went off towards where Molly was arranging food on the big table. James enlisted Daisy and Marigold's help in arranging their picnic blanket, while Dudley and Edward went off to talk to Cedric, and Victoria wandered over to see what Ginny was doing. 

Ginny greeted Victoria, and then ran over to talk to Harry, Ron and Hermione. 

'Did you think you were going to get away without saying hello?' she asked Harry, amusedly. 

'Well, I...' Harry began. 

Ginny kissed him full on the mouth, and then prodded him in the stomach, mock-frowning at him. 

'Just don't do it again,' she said. 'Now, Victoria and I have things to do and people to see, but I'll see you later...' 

And she ran off to rejoin Harry's sister. Harry stared after her for a moment, tasting his lips where she had kissed him. That had been... strange. But nice. He had never really thought of Ginny in that way before, but now that he thought of it... she was very pretty. And they did get on very well. And that kiss had been  _electric_. 

'Harry? Harry? Earth to Harry Potter?' 

Harry blinked, and looked at Hermione, who was waving a hand in front of his face. 

'Are you still with us?' she asked, grinning. 

'Just about...' Harry said. 

'Young love, eh?' Hermione said to Ron, teasingly. 

'It's pathetic,' he agreed, wrapping his arms around her stomach from behind, and resting his chin on her shoulder. 'All that mooning over each other...' 

'Ginny's been like a lost soul all summer,' Hermione agreed. 'You didn't write to her nearly enough, you know,' 

'Well, I...' 

'One letter a day apparently just won't do...' 

'And I kept telling her,' said Ron, 'to give you a break, because of all the problems with letters these days, but she swore that there would be Words when you got back to school...' 

Harry looked over at Ginny, who winked at him before returning to her conversation. He weighed the odds, based on the reception she had given him, and the expressions on Ron and Hermione's faces. 

'Yeah, right,' he said, disbelievingly. 

'Aaw,' said Ron. 'Never mind, worth a try eh, mate?' 

'Their love was just too strong for your teasing, Ronald Weasley,' Hermione said. 'Bless them. Oh, and speaking of... look who's here!' 

Harry turned to see another two people arrive by Portkey - Sirius and Lupin. Daisy and Marigold lost no time, running up to them for hugs and begging sweets from Lupin, who apparently had an ample supply in his pockets. 

Sirius looked so well, and happy. Harry felt tears in his eyes again, and blinked them back. His godfather was grinning and talking animatedly with Marigold. He was hugging Lily and James, and ruffling Edward's hair. He was... 

He was  _holding_  Lupin's  _hand_. 

For the umpteenth time that day, Harry found himself staring in disbelief. Was  _everyone_  happily paired off in this version of reality? He had never even  _imagined_  that Sirius and Lupin felt that way about one another. But then, there was a lot here that he had never imagined. 

Sirius saw Harry watching them and beckoned him over. Harry went, and found himself enveloped in a big hug, first by Sirius, and then by Lupin. 

'How's my favourite godson?' Sirius asked. 'Behaving yourself?' 

'Mostly,' Harry grinned. 

'Glad to hear it,' said Sirius. 

The day passed in a blur of delight for Harry. A little after Sirius and Lupin arrived, Neville turned up - with his parents. Frank and Alice Longbottom looked healthy and happy, much different than they had the first and only time he had met them back in his reality, on the Closed Ward at St Mungo's. Neville had come over to chat with Harry, Ron and Hermione, full of a story about some plant he'd found over the summer. Cedric, Luna, and half a dozen other people he recognised from Hogwarts had waved cheerfully at him. The food had been wonderful, and he had eaten until he almost felt sick. Then everyone had lazed around, watching some of the younger children put on a show, and after that there had been games and races, and all sorts of entertainment, including music and dancing, and then more food. His family were wonderful - his brother and sisters seemed nice, and Dudley was incredibly polite and friendly. The weather was beautiful, the surroundings were lovely - it was the perfect day. Nobody seemed to notice that Harry was a little quiet. And when they took a Portkey back to Godric's Hollow just as it was beginning to get dark, he was happy to hug his parents and siblings goodnight, before going up to his own room to lie in bed and wonder about everything that had happened. It all seemed so perfect, so beautiful. He found himself hoping that he would be able to stay. 


	3. Chapter 3

Once again, Harry found himself being roughly awakened by his sister. This time it was Victoria, shaking him awake, shining her candle in his eyes. 

'Wh't t'mzit?' he asked blearily. 

'It's gone eight already. And... oh, Harry, you haven't even packed, have you? You're hopeless, honestly.' 

He put his glasses on and screwed his eyes up against the light. 

'Dammit,' he muttered. 

'Well, I'm all ready, have been for hours,' Victoria said. 

'Oh, thanks, that helps,' Harry said, getting out of bed and hunting for clothes. 

She sighed. 'You go and get ready in the bathroom. I'll pack your things for you.' 

'Oh, Victoria, would you? That would be great...' 

'Just go, quick!' 

He gave her a grateful look, gathered up his clothes from the floor and went down the corridor to the bathroom. 

When he returned, dressed, washed, and feeling a little more awake, Victoria presented him with a full rucksack, smiling a little. 

'Don't I need my trunk?' Harry asked, puzzled. 

'Trunk? What on Earth are you talking about? You'll be back again by Friday! I've put everything in there that you'll need until then. Come on now, breakfast. It should be on the table about now.' 

Harry followed Victoria down the stairs and into the kitchen, greeting his parents and his other siblings. As Lily heaped porridge into his bowl, he wondered about things - why would he be back by Friday? Hogwarts had never had week boarders in his reality. 

'Now, Harry,' said Lily, sitting down to her own breakfast. 'You will look after Edward, won't you?' 

'Mum!' Edward protested. 'I don't need Harry to look after me! I can look after myself!' 

'Of course you can, Ed,' said James, placatingly. 'Mum didn't mean it like that. We know you can look after yourself. But it's your first time at school, and it can't hurt to have someone to show you around, make sure you're getting on alright. That's what big brothers are for! Harry helped you, when you started, didn't he, Victoria?' 

'Yeah, loads,' said Victoria. 'It is a bit confusing at first, Ed. But I'm sure you'll get on great. And of course you know most of the teachers already, so that bit isn't scary at all.' 

'I'm sure he'll do fine,' said Lily. 'I just like my children to look out for each other, that's all. Are you all packed? The Portkey will be here in a bit.' 

Harry, Victoria, Edward and Dudley all made affirmative sounds, Victoria smirking a little at Harry. 

'Here comes Uncle Sirius!' Daisy called, pointing out of the kitchen window. 

And indeed, Sirius was striding up the path. The four older children rushed upstairs to get their things together, and by the time Harry got back to the kitchen with his rucksack, Sirius was sitting at the table, tucking into a bowl of cereal. 

'Morning, Harry,' he said, punching his godson affectionately on the arm. 'Up already? I'm surprised...' 

'Har, har,' said Harry. 'That's still funny...' 

'Well, no hurry, anyway,' Sirius said. 'Minerva authorised me to do the Portkey myself, so I'll just do it when you lot are ready.' 

'Oh, please, take them off my hands,' said Lily, jokingly. 

'Ah, Lil, that's a bit harsh,' said James. 'They're not bad, as a rule. They could be a whole lot worse.' 

'That's true,' said Lily. 'Ah, what's the use pretending? I'm going to miss you like mad all week, you horrors. Come here, all of you.' 

One by one, they hugged her goodbye, then went to hug James and the twins too. 

'Anything I can use for a Portkey?' Sirius asked. 

Lily handed him a broken cup from the counter, and he pointed his wand at it. It glowed blue for a moment. 

'Alright, kids, grab on,' he said. 

Harry and the others went to join Sirius, each of them touching the broken cup. 

'Be good! I love you!' Lily cried, as they disappeared. 

Harry found himself in a fairly large, open room, with several other kids already milling about. There were long windows all around the walls, but the blinds were down at the moment. The floor was thickly carpeted and the walls were painted a pale yellow. It felt like someone's living room. Harry was confused. This wasn't the Great Hall, and it didn't look like any part of Hogwarts he was familiar with. And why hadn't they travelled by Hogwarts Express, anyway? 

'Come on, let's go and sit down,' said Victoria. 

Harry, frowning with confusion, followed her to the seats that were arranged in rows at the back of the room. Edward and Dudley followed too, and they all sat together. After a few minutes, others began to join them. Harry recognised most of them vaguely from Hogwarts, but there were a few unfamiliar faces. 

'Morning, Harry!' said Ginny, coming to sit behind him. Ron and Hermione followed. Harry turned in his seat to let Ginny kiss him. It was a lingering kiss, and now that he knew what to expect, he thoroughly enjoyed it. 

'Mister Potter and Miss Weasley - if you've  _quite_  finished,' said a stern voice. 

Harry and Ginny sprang apart to see Professor McGonagall glaring at them. She was sitting at the front of the assembled group, facing them, in a deep, high-backed wicker chair. There were several sheets of parchment in her lap. She looked at the students, and smiled. 

'Well, first of all, I hope you've all had a good summer,' she said. 'I hope it was wonderfully relaxing and peaceful, because you're all in for a very busy year. We can't afford to let things slide, especially now. So I want you all to knuckle down and start working hard right away. To that end, I'm hoping to get the administration done as quickly as possible, so that you can all get to your classes. And the first order of business is to take attendance. As usual, I'll start with the Muggle students - once I have you all sorted out you can go next door and get started on some work. Now... Dudley Dursley?' 

'Present!' said Dudley. 

'Kitty Edwards?' 

'Present!' said a girl with brown hair, who turned to wave at Dudley. 

Harry listened as McGonagall checked off the names of some twenty or so Muggle students. 

'Alright then, that all seems to be in order,' McGonagall said. 'Mrs Figg is waiting for you all next door, she has some very interesting work for you this term, I'm told.' 

'Bye!' said Dudley, picking up his things and heading towards the door with the others. 'Good luck, Ed! See you later, Harry. Thanks for the help with my homework, Victoria...' 

'Go on, go on, you'll see them all again at lunchtime!' McGonagall said. 

The Muggle students moved a little faster out of the room. Once they had all gone, she turned her attention to the next list. 

'Well, I see we have a few new students today,' she said. 'Joseph Crewe, Anne Green, Siân Murray, Edward Potter and Elinor West. Would you all like to come to the front so that we can have a proper look at you?' The five first years got up slowly, and started down to the front. 'Come on, now, I don't bite!' said McGonagall. 'It just helps everyone to get to know the new faces. Come along now, that's right...' 

The five of them lined up by McGonagall's chair, blinking nervously at the older students staring at them. 

'There we go,' said McGonagall. 'Now, Professor Black will be taking you lot this morning, and he should be here any moment to take you to your classroom.' 

The first years, and then the other students, started looking around expectantly. 

'Any minute, I'm sure,' McGonagall said. 

She drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. The students looked at one another. A few of them started to laugh. 

'I don't know what kind of example he thinks he's showing, turning up late when you were all here so promptly,' she sighed. She looked across the rows of students. 'Harry, Victoria, did he arrive with you?' 

'Yes, Professor,' said Victoria. 

'Then he must be in the building somewhere...' 

She sighed, rolling her eyes a little, and muttered an incantation. A silver form shot out of her wand and out of the room - a Patronus. Harry knew that the Order in his reality used them to communicate. 

After a few moments, Sirius came in, looking hurried. 

'Sorry, Minerva, wasn't quite ready...' he said. 

She shook her head resignedly. 'This is your class for this morning,' she said, indicating the first years. 'Look after them, won't you?' 

'Of course. Come on, kids! We're going to have loads of fun...' McGonagall frowned at him... 'I mean, we're going to study very hard! Hooray!' 

And he led the five first years out of the room. 

'Now we've got  _that_  out of the way,' said McGonagall, her stern expression not quite hiding her amusement, 'I'll take the register for the second years. Quiet in the back, please. I'll get to you as soon as I can.' 

She checked off the names of the second years, and sent them out to another classroom, before moving on to the next group. Victoria disappeared with the other fourth years. Ginny went off with the fifth years, including Luna. It was a while before McGonagall got to the sixth year. Harry recognised all of the names on the list, but it seemed that not everyone from his year at Hogwarts was here. He, Ron, Hermione and Neville were the only Gryffindors, there were two Ravenclaws, Anthony Goldstein and Morag McDougal, and three Hufflepuffs - Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley. And not a single Slytherin. No Malfoy to annoy him - what a nice change that would be. 

'Now, you lot will be with me this morning,' McGonagall said once she had ticked off the sixth-year names on her list. 'Go to Classroom Four and settle down, I'll be there as soon as I finish with the seventh years. 

Harry followed the others down a corridor that looked like it belonged in somebody's home rather than a school, and into the classroom. It was small, just big enough for the nine of them to sit on the two narrow benches, facing the little desk at the front. This room was just as homey as the others - there was even a little fireplace at the back. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville took one bench, while the other five took the one opposite. 

'Good summer, everyone?' Hermione asked, looking over at the other group as she took her books out of her bag. 

'Bit quiet,' said Susan. 'You know how it is.' 

Everyone murmured agreement. 

Harry frowned, feeling suddenly anxious. He  _didn't_  know how it was - but he was starting to wish he did. He wasn't sure if it was just because he was new here and unused to the way things worked, but something definitely seemed a bit... odd. People kept making cryptic comments about the way life was these days. And where was Dumbledore? Why hadn't he been welcoming the students? Why weren't they all at Hogwarts, anyhow? He was afraid to ask anyone these questions because that would involve revealing the fact that he didn't belong here, and then of course people would just think that he was crazy... 

The door opened, and McGonagall entered. Harry stared, shocked. She didn't walk in - she floated in, on the chair she had been sitting on at the front of the other room. It hovered a couple of inches above the ground, and carried McGonagall behind the desk before setting gently down. She flicked her wand towards the door and it closed. Harry had never seen anyone use the Wizarding equivalent of a Muggle wheelchair before, but he supposed that this was what one looked like. What on Earth had happened to McGonagall? 

Nobody else seemed surprised at her entrance - they just stopped talking and paid attention. 

'This is an important year,' said McGonagall. 'You'll be starting on NEWT level work in all of your classes. Also, now that you're all sixteen, you'll have to start night patrol with the teachers and the seventh years. I'll see you about that later, and divide you into patrol groups. For now, though, I'd like to see how your Transfiguration is progressing. I'd like you each to Conjure the inanimate object of your choice, and I'll come around and inspect your work.' 

Harry took out his wand and began to work, watching the rest of the class with half an eye as he did. Hermione, of course, produced a beautiful goblet out of thin air with no trouble at all. Susan made a clock almost right away. Neville seemed to be able to Conjure alright to begin with, but the things he made disappeared almost as soon as they appeared. Harry could only Conjure strange, formless blobs. 

'Harry, you're not concentrating,' said McGonagall, floating across to him on her chair. 'You need to have a firm mental image of the object you wish to Conjure. Don't rush yourself - while you're in class you have all the time in the world to get it right. Take the time to fully visualise the object.' 

Harry tried again. This time his creation - he was hoping for a teacup - was vaguely concave, and had some suggestion of a handle. 

'Well, it's a good start,' said McGonagall. 'Keep at it, Harry, you'll get it in the end.' 

She moved over to Hannah, leaving Harry to his misshaped cup and his musings. 

It was no use - he couldn't carry on like this. He had to find out what was going on. But how? 

After some two-and-a-half hours of Conjuring practise, they were let out for lunch, which took place in the same large room that they had been in before. There were just two long tables, and the teachers sat with the students. Harry saw Professor Flitwick and Madam Hooch, as well as a few order members he recognised, and a few people he hadn't seen before. 

Harry sat with Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Victoria, Edward, Luna, Dudley, and the Muggle girl who had waved at Dudley, Kitty. Victoria had spent the morning in Charms and was full of some new spell they'd learned. Dudley and Kitty had been doing Maths. Edward had been in Sirius' class - apparently the first thing he had taught them had been how to make things explode. Harry wasn't in the least bit surprised. 

'What did you two do, then?' Neville asked Ginny and Luna. 

'Oh, we were doing Potions with Hestia,' said Ginny. 'It was pretty interesting, wasn't it, Lu?' 

'Fascinating,' agreed Luna. 'I do like potions. I like the way they bubble. We learned a new one today.' 

Harry was struck by an idea. 

'How long do we have until afternoon classes?' he asked casually. 

'Half an hour,' said Ron, looking at his watch. He threw his cutlery down on his empty plate. 'Right, that's me done. Hermione, fancy a little walk before afternoon classes?' 

Hermione smiled, and they got up and left. 

'Yeah, right, a  _walk_ ,' said Dudley, miming quotation marks sarcastically. 'Come on, Kitty, let's go for a.. ahem...  _walk_ , too.' 

'Well, much as I enjoy  _walking_ , Harry, Victoria and I have some things to take care of before afternoon classes,' said Ginny. 'So I'll see you later, ok?' 

She kissed him and disappeared. Harry, Neville, Luna and Edward looked at one another. 

'Um... Luna, could I have a word?' Harry asked. 

'Of course!' she said. 'What is it?' 

'Well... in private, I mean...' 

'Ooh, watch out, Ginny won't be pleased...' Neville teased. 

'Don't be daft, it's nothing like that,' said Harry. 'I just wanted to ask you about something. Can we go somewhere quieter?' 

'Of course,' said Luna serenely. 'Come on, we'll go up to the Bell Room. Ignore those two.' 

He followed her out of the room. 

He had to tell his story to somebody, and Luna was probably the only person in the world who would believe him. 


	4. Chapter 4

Harry followed Luna down a corridor, to a little room with bells lining one of the walls, each of them labelled with the name of a different room in the house. The labels looked old, and some of them were peeling now, but Harry could make out 'Anna's Room', 'Dining Room', 'Master Bedroom' and 'Library'. 

Luna sat on the narrow bench underneath the row of bells, and Harry joined her. 

'What is it?' she asked. 'What's wrong?' 

'Luna... you believe in things that other people don't, don't you?' 

'Frequently. Can you imagine, some people don't even think that the Blibbering Humdinger actually exists? I don't know why people are so closed-minded about it...' 

'Luna... I'm trying to tell you something.' 

'Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. Do go on.' 

'Well, I have a story. And I don't think anyone would believe it except you, but I have to tell somebody, because otherwise I'm going to end up going wrong...' 

'Tell me, then.' 

Harry explained about the mirror. Luna listened carefully, nodding as he spoke. 

'That must be very confusing,' she said, once he was finished. 'No wonder you've been so quiet. Ginny was worrying about you, you know. And I can see why you didn't want to tell anybody...' 

'But you believe me, don't you?' 

'Of course. Why would you make this up?' 

'Oh, I'm so glad to hear you say that... will you help me? I need to know what's going on here... I need to figure out what's happening and what I need to do to get back home, but to do that I need to work out what's different here.' 

'Well, of course I'll help you. What do you want to know?' 

'Well, first of all - why aren't we at Hogwarts? What is this place?' 

'Gosh... things really  _must_  be different where you come from! None of us has ever been to Hogwarts - it was made Pureblood Only in nineteen-eighty-four.' 

'What? But Dumbledore would never allow that!' 

'Dumbledore was too busy trying to defeat You-Know-Who to stop it. You do have You-Know-Who in your reality, don't you?' 

'Oh, we have him alright,' said Harry. 

'Well, anyway, Dumbledore had to choose his battles - it was more important to fight the Dark Lord than it was to keep Hogwarts open. He found this house instead, and McGonagall started this school. At first it was just the Order - of the Phoenix, you've heard of that? - who sent their children here, then McGonagall started to invite some of the people who had withdrawn their children from Hogwarts. And of course all the rescued Muggle children come here.' 

'Rescued?' 

'Yes, from the cullings.' 

' _Cullings_?!' 

'Yes. It was awful. Around the same time that Hogwarts closed, the Death Eaters started killing Muggles, left, right and centre. They didn't care who they were, they didn't care if they'd done anything wrong. They just did if for fun. Hundreds of thousands of Muggles died. The Order rescued as many as they could - particularly children. I mean, that's why Dudley lives with your family...' 

'Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia are... they're dead?' 

'They were killed years ago, in the first wave of cullings. At least, your mother thinks they were. That was when we were all very small, of course...' 

_'Did they_   _get to sleep alright?' James asked Lily, as she came down the stairs._

_'Like_   _little angels,' Lily smiled. 'At least_   _ **someone**_   _can sleep at night.'_

_He looked sadly up at her, and she came to join him on the sofa, snuggling close to him_   _and resting her head on his chest._   _For a moment they sat there quietly, listening to the thud of the rain on the roof_   _and windows._

_'Did you renew the protective spells around the house?' she asked._

_'Of course. They're fine. They'll hold. Besides, Death Eaters wouldn't be out on a night like this. They_   _like their comforts - the weather's much too bad for them, the cowards._   _We're safe, Lily.'_

_'Safe_   _is a relative term._   _So we probably won't be murdered in our beds tonight._   _We still can't go to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade without worrying about being spotted and killed. We can't go to St Mungo's even... what if the children were to get sick? Where could we take them?'_

_'We'd call Minerva, and she'd call Poppy, and she'd be over here in a brace of shakes.'_

_'I suppose you're right.'_

_'Lily, things will get better. I know it doesn't seem like that - but things can't stay like this forever._   _Dumbledore has a plan._   _He'll figure out a way to overthrow You-Know-Who, and things will get better.'_

_'Oh, James, I hope you're right...'_

_There was a hammering on the front door._

_'Who on Earth could that be?' James said._   _'Lily, stay here, I'll go and see.'_

_'Oh, don't be such a hero, we'll both go,' she said, picking up her wand._

_They tiptoed across to the door, and Lily opened it a crack, then opened it fully when she saw who was behind it._

_'Petunia!' she gasped._

_Her sister stared helplessly at her, then gulped and broke into floods of tears._

_'Petunia, come in!' Lily cried. 'Oh, you're soaked! Come on.'_

_Petunia looked awful. She was pale and thin, and her eyes were red._   _Her hair was so wet that it was completely flat, and damp little tendrils stuck to her face._   _She had no coat, only a dress and a cardigan, both soaked through._   _She was balancing Dudley on her hip_   _\- he had always been a chubby child, but now he looked half-starved. She had at least managed to find a waterproof for him, though, and sheltered from the rain and clinging tight to his mother, he had managed to fall asleep._

_Petunia said nothing as Lily steered her to the sofa and sat her down. James went away and came back with blankets and a cup of tea. Lily pointed her wand at the fireplace and at once there was a warm blaze.Petunia shuddered, holding Dudley tightly against her chest, letting Lily wrap a blanket around them both._   _She drank her tea awkwardly, unwilling to let go of her son._

_Lily and James said nothing._   _James busied himself warming up the room, then disappeared into the kitchen to find something for Petunia to eat. Lily stroked her sister's dripping hair and made soothing noises._

_After a while, Petunia spoke._

_'I know I haven't always been good to you, Lily,' she said, her voice shaking._

_'Petunia, it doesn't matter,' said Lily. 'You're my sister. It's alright. Whatever you need, you can have.'_

_'Oh, Lily, if it was only for myself I wouldn't ask... but Dudley...'_

_'Have the cullings started in Little Whinging, then?'_

_'Yes! There was a gang of them, tonight._   _They're all over the South now, it isn't safe anywhere._   _I just grabbed Dudley and got out of there. I've been driving for hours._   _I ran out of petrol about a mile from here_   _and I just ran the rest of the way.'_

_'Where's Vernon, is he alright?'_

_Petunia choked back a sob._   _'He wouldn't come._   _When I said I was coming here, he refused to come with me._   _He thinks your lot are all alike, he thinks you'd kill him soon as look at him, just like the Death Eaters would._   _He refuses to believe that you're scared too.'_

_'Oh, Petunia...' Lily sighed._   _'I'm so sorry._   _You and Dudley can stay with us, you'll be safe here.'_

_'Oh Lily, thank you! I know I don't have any right to expect your help after how we've treated you...'_

_'Don't say another word,' said Lily. 'We're sisters.'_

_'But Lily... I have to go and find Vernon._   _You know how he is - he won't lie low. He draws attention to himself, he'll make trouble, I know it.'_

_'Petunia, it isn't safe._   _Stay here. We can send somebody to look for Vernon in the morning.'_

_'It won't work. He won't go with anybody except me. Can I leave Dudley here with you while I go to find him?'_

_'Well of course, but...'_

_'Lily... I know he isn't the best of men._   _He's pig-headed and vain, and he can be nasty. I know._   _He's far from perfect. But I love him._   _I have to at least try to find him, to keep him safe.'_

_Lily sighed._   _'If that's what you want to do._   _And if you can persuade him, you're both welcome to come and stay here for as long as you like.'_

_'Oh, thank you... I'll see you soon then...'_

_'Petunia, don't go yet! You're still soaked, and you look as though you haven't eaten in days!_   _Please stay a little while, at least until you've had a rest and something to eat.'_

_'I...'_

_'Please?'_

_'Alright... I'll stay a little while,' Petunia said._   _'But just a very little while.'_

_Lily nodded. 'My room is the first on the right at the top of the stairs,' she said. 'Look in the second drawer of the wardrobe, find something warm to wear._   _And you can borrow my coat._   _Here, let me sit with Dudley_   _a minute.'_

_Petunia handed over her sleeping son and went to change._

_After that night, Lily never saw her sister again._

'That's awful...' Harry said. 'Poor Dudley...' 

'And poor Hermione,' said Luna. 'Her parents are dead, too. Hermione's lucky to be alive - McGonagall rescued her. She always tries to find the Muggle-born magical children if she can. Hermione's been living with the Weasleys since she was five. Most of the Order families have at least one extra child.' 

Harry shook his head in disbelief - this was worse than he had imagined. 

'What else?' he asked. 'After the cullings started, what happened then?' 

'Well, things carried on in pretty much the same way for a few years - most of the Muggles that weren't killed were used as slaves, or just thrown out onto the streets. Mostly now they live in slums, in constant fear of the Death Eaters. But Dumbledore was still working to defeat You-Know-Who - he found out about his horcruxes - do you know what a horcrux is?' 

Harry shook his head. 

'It's very powerful dark magic. When a wizard makes a horcrux, he puts a bit of his soul somewhere for safe-keeping. Makes him very difficult to kill. You-Know-Who had several, and Dumbledore spent those years looking for them, and destroying them. Meanwhile, McGonagall was mostly running the Order while Dumbledore was away, gathering intelligence, wearing the Death Eaters down. About seven years ago now, Dumbledore reported to the Order that he had finally destroyed all of the horcruxes - all that was left was to kill You-Know-Who himself. And so there was a battle.' 

'I take it we didn't win,' Harry said, glumly. 

'No,' said Luna. 'We did not.' 

_They had to attack the Death Eaters' Headquarters, in the end._   _There was no other way to get to Voldemort, no other way to defeat them conclusively._

_Death Eater Headquarters these days was the building formerly_   _known as Buckingham Palace._   _Voldemort had wanted to show that the Muggle way wasn't worth anything any more_   _\- he_   _had_   _taken over a symbol of Muggle power, Muggle tradition, and made it his own._   _It wasn't very pretty,_   _now._   _The spiked railings were stuck with heads - some Muggle, some Wizard. Not that it mattered, now that they were dead._   _The walls of the palace itself were smeared with blood and gore. The windows were all blacked out._

_The Order of the Phoenix got_   _all the way to the Throne Room before the Death Eaters attacked in force._   _Elphias Doge was the first to fall._   _Emmeline Vance stopped to see if he was alive._

_'No!' cried Dumbledore. 'There'll be time for that later, now we have to keep our minds on the battle.'_

_And he plunged into the room, firing curses in all directions and deflecting as many._   _The assembled masses of the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters met_   _at last._

_'Any sign of You-Know-Who?' Sirius asked Arthur Weasley, as the two of them crouched behind the broken throne for a moment, trying to work out the best spot to attack next._

_'Nobody's seen him,' said Arthur._   _'Can you spot Molly?'_

_'Over there,' said Sirius, pointing to where Molly was duelling with Dolohov._

_Arthur ran to help her, and Sirius cursed another Death Eater who was about to do the same to Remus._

_Curses flew across the chamber in all directions, bouncing randomly off shield charms. Bellatrix Lestrange, laughing, grabbed a candelabra from the floor, lit it with a spell, and used it to set fire to the curtains._   _The fire crept around the edges of the room, licking up the walls, filling the room with grey smoke._

_And Voldemort entered._   _Everyone, Death Eaters and Order members, stopped for a moment as he walked, quite calmly, into the room._   _His face was so pale that it shone in the light of the flames, and it looked horrifying. None of the Order had seen Voldemort in some time, and he looked frightful - his nose all but gone, his face flat and snakelike._

_'Don't stop!' cried Dumbledore, and at once the Order turned back to their opponents, leaving their leader to deal with the Dark Lord._

_Lily, trading curses with Crabbe, couldn't help but watch Dumbledore's progress out of the corner of her eye._   _He and Voldemort sent curse after curse towards one another, but not a single curse got through._   _Neither of them seemed to be tiring as Lily finally got through Crabbe's defences and laid him out with a Stunning Spell, but she barely had time to catch her breath before Mulciber aimed a curse at her._   _She repelled it and sent back one of her own._   _James was suddenly at her side, and together they dealt with Mulciber, but there were more Death Eaters pouring into the room._   _Lily and James stood back to back, firing curses at any Death Eaters they could see - although seeing at all was becoming increasingly difficult in the thickening smoke._

_'Arthur! Oh, God!' cried Molly._

_Lily couldn't tell where the cry had come from_   _\- the people were just shapes now, with no features._   _But Molly's sobbing continued, reaching her ears over the noise of the battle._   _It was risky to get rid of the smoke - the Death Eaters would be gaining an advantage too - but Lily felt she had no choice. She blasted as much of the smoke away with her wand as she could. Molly was a little way in front of Lily and James - Arthur lay still at her feet, tears streamed down her face, and still she fired spell after spell_   _at the Death Eaters. She felled Rodolphus Lestrange with an Avada Kedavra, and a scream of rage._

_Moody was dead. His blood was spilled all over the floor._   _Sturgis Podmore and Frank Longbottom were both lying still._   _Lily saw_   _Alice check Frank's pulse, nod in satisfaction, and then continue the battle._

_'Emmie!' Lily heard Minerva cry_   _out in warning, but it was too late. Emmeline Vance was hit by a well-timed Avada Kedavra from Lucius Malfoy, and slammed_   _to the ground._   _Minerva gave_   _her_   _fallen_   _friend an anguished look before returning to her duel._

_There was a wordless scream of horror. Lily spun to see Alice, hands over her mouth, looking down at..._

_Dumbledore._

_Dumbledore was dead._

_There was no question about it. Not when his head was lying so far from his body._   _There were more cries as everyone saw._

_Dumbledore was dead, and Voldemort stood over him, wearing an expression of mild curiosity._

_'I thought the old man would see that one coming,' he said, calmly._

_'Don't stop!' ordered_   _Minerva, spinning around to see what remained of the Order gaping in shock. 'It's not over yet!'_

_She fired a curse at Voldemort himself, and he deflected it with a laugh._   _The Order, stunned and horrified, returned to their duels, but it was hopeless now. Dumbledore was dead. Elphias, Moody, Sturgis, Emmeline and Arthur were dead._   _Remus and Frank were injured._   _Lily felt herself lift off the floor and fly backwards with the force of an unexpected curse, landing several feet away. She could see, but she couldn't move. She watched as James cast_   _spell after spell, hitting several Death Eaters._   _She saw Voldemort and Minerva exchange curses. Minerva wasn't as good as Dumbledore, but she was still_   _very_   _good. Voldemort_   _couldn't get past her defences._   _But she was concentrating so hard on him that she wasn't paying attention to the rest of the battle, wasn't defending her other side..._

_Lily tried to call out, to warn Minerva, but she couldn't make a sound._   _She could only watch helplessly as Bellatrix approached Minerva from behind and hit her full force with a curse._   _Minerva crumpled to the floor._

_Everything went black for Lily._

'Seven of the Order got out of there alive,' said Luna. 'Your dad got your mum out, then went back for Professor McGonagall. Neville's mum got his dad out. Molly, Professor Black and Professor Lupin got out on their own power, just barely. They managed to get here without being followed.' 

'Seven?' Harry said, incredulous. 'That was all that was left of the Order?' 

'Oh, no,' said Luna. 'There were some people who hadn't been in the battle - special missions for Dumbledore, other duties, that sort of thing. Madam Pomfrey was supposed to wait here, because she was looking after all of the children. Hagrid was off trying to talk the giants round. My dad was working on another important project quite a way away - there wasn't time for them to get everyone together from all across the people. So it wasn't everybody. But the Order was still badly depleted. 

'Dumbledore, dead... and poor Mr Weasley...' Harry said, almost to himself. 

'It was months before the Order could do anything very much,' said Luna. 'They were a mess. Professor McGonagall was very badly injured. It took her months to recover - well, you can see that she never really did. Dumbledore's death was a terrible blow - You-Know-Who's power grew and grew after that.' 

'And?' Harry said. 

'And... that's it. You-Know-Who has probably taken over the whole world by now, I don't know. Certainly all of Europe. The Order is slowly building power again, but it all has to be in secret. And we all have to live in secret. We would all be killed if anyone knew where we were. We mostly only go outdoors for one day a year, the Weasley picnic, and that has to be planned in meticulous detail and carefully guarded. All of our houses are under dozens of protection and concealment spells. Things are very dangerous for all of us now.' 

'Almost makes me wish I hadn't asked,' Harry said. 


	5. Chapter 5

Harry sleepwalked through the afternoon class (Charms with Professor Flitwick) and the evening meal, unable to stop thinking about what Luna had told him. She said there was more, too. They had arranged to meet after dinner so that she could tell him the rest. 

Dinner was a loud, cheerful meal - it seemed that this place, as well as being the school, was the unofficial Headquarters of the Order, since several members joined the teachers and students for the meal - including Tonks, criss-crossed with scars but still grinning cheerfully as she waved at Harry and the others, Alice Longbottom, who seemed to relish giving Neville a big hug in front of his friends and thoroughly embarrassing him, and Percy Weasley, who greeted his siblings cheerfully before going to have a serious conversation with Hestia Jones. 

Once they had all eaten, Harry found himself in the Bell Room again, watching Luna as she thought hard, trying to decide what to tell him next. 

'Tell me about what happened while Voldemort was gaining power,' Harry said. 'Perhaps it'll help me understand how things got this way.' 

Luna nodded. 'Well, maybe the easiest way to tell you that is to go through the newspaper archives,' she said. 'We could go down to the room where they're kept, if you like.' 

'Alright,' said Harry. 'Lead on.' 

'Of course,' said Luna as they walked down a corridor, 'the Daily Prophet wasn't allowed to continue for very long after You-Know-Who gained power. A few people tried to keep publishing it long after the others had fled, but You-Know-Who destroyed their offices in nineteen-eighty-five. Almost everyone that was still there was killed.' 

'Almost everyone?' 

'Yes, one journalist survived. The Death Eaters captured her, but she was rescued by the Order. She's one of only two people to have escaped from the Death Eater Headquarters after being captured.' 

'If the office was destroyed, how come there are still papers?' 

'Oh, she looked after them somewhere else. She kept them a secret until the Order found her.' 

'Wow, that's pretty brave.' 

'She's a very brave woman.' 

Luna pushed open a door, and they entered a little room, lined with shelves full of newspapers, magazines and books. 

'Hello?' called Luna. 'Rita, are you here? We just want to have a look at some of the papers.' 

_Rita?_

Harry grimaced - surely not? 

A woman came out from behind one of the shelves. It was unmistakably Rita Skeeter, but she looked very different from the prying journalist who had penned malicious stories about Harry and Hermione, and different again from the Rita of a year after that, who had been unkempt and sullen after her enforced unemployment. This Rita's bright blond hair was coiled in a sensible knot at the nape of her neck instead of in a cloud of tight curls, and she wore a practical-looking green robe instead of the garish costumes Harry was more used to seeing her in. Even her nails, usually red and long and pointed, were filed down to pale little half-moons. 

'Oh, hello Luna, Harry,' she said, in a voice much softer and sweeter than the one Harry remembered. 'Which papers did you want to look at?' 

'Do you think we could see the ones about key events in the lead-up to the takeover?' Luna asked. 

'Of course,' said Rita. 'Those are the ones everyone always wants to see - it won't take me a minute. Take a seat, I'll be right back.' 

' _She_  was the journalist who was captured by the Death Eaters?' Harry whispered to Luna, as Rita disappeared behind the shelves again. 

'Yes,' Luna whispered back. 'My father says it was a horrible ordeal for her, but he wouldn't tell me much more...' 

_Why they hadn't just killed her, Rita didn't know._   _It seemed that they had done almost everything else._   _She had experienced every variation on the Crucio curse that the inventive minds of Bellatrix_   _and Rodolphus Lestrange could devise._   _She had been subjected to things that she wouldn't have imagined even Death Eaters to be capable of - magical, mental and physical tortures_   _that had left her screaming for mercy._

_They hadn't even bothered to ask her questions, after the first couple of days. Certainly they wouldn't have minded knowing where she'd put the newspapers, but she_   _wasn't going to tell them, and it wasn't really worth the bother for them to interrogate her properly_   _after those first few days of refusal._   _Instead, the Death Eaters_   _used her as a plaything. They took out their_   _frustrations and their high spirits on her, any way they could think of._

_She didn't even know how long she had been there._   _When they left her alone, she was tied up in a dark, damp cellar. There were no windows, no way to gauge night and day._   _They fed her seemingly whenever they happened to remember, paltry scraps from the Dark Lord's table, lumped together in a rough wooden bowl._   _She had to eat it with her hands, but she didn't care._

_There were wards on the cellar, to stop her from doing any magic._   _She tried anyway - there was always the chance that they would forget to renew them, and that she would be able to break through._   _After they had left her, she always tried to Transform._   _Even when she had all but forgotten why, sometimes couldn't remember even her own name, she tried to Transform._

_Once, it worked._

_Rita didn't remember any of it afterwards. She supposed that, in her beetle form, she had been able to get out of the palace_   _and out into London._   _She had no idea how she had come to be wandering_   _the streets of Arundel,_   _some sixty miles from London,_   _where she had been spotted by the Order._

_Her memories came in flashes after that -_   _Poppy Pomfrey, talking to_   _her as she healed her injuries -_   _Emmeline Vance bringing her real food, with real cutlery_   _- Dumbledore himself, asking her gently where the newspapers were -_   _James Potter letting her hold his arm as she took her first steps in months - Minerva McGonagall showing her around the house_   _\- John Lovegood helping her to sort through the newspapers, once Remus Lupin and Sirius Black had fetched them from their hiding place._

_She settled into life with the Order. Mostly, she didn't miss the old Rita, the one_   _from before the Death Eaters, the one_   _who had been loud and brash and contemptuous._   _At least meek, timid, helpful Rita was safe._

'So now she lives here and looks after the papers, and sometimes she and my father put out pamphlets against the Death Eaters,' Luna said. 'It isn't much, but it's something.' 

Rita came back out from behind the shelves, carrying a large stack of papers. Harry got up to take them from her. 

'If there's anything else you need, you know your way around, don't you Luna?' she said. 'I have to go and meet your father in a minute. Just leave them on the chair when you finish and I'll put them back afterwards.' 

She smiled at the two of them and left. Harry turned his attention to the pile of papers in his lap. 

'They should be in chronological order,' said Luna. 'Rita's very neat that way. Most of the important bits should be on the front pages.' 

The first paper was dated May 12 th, 1981. Harry read it. 

_**He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Recruits More Followers** _

_Sources tell us that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_   _is stronger than ever, following a new wave of recruitment by the Death Eaters._

_'We have reliable intelligence that his forces have increased,' said a Ministry spokesperson last night. 'Also, we can confirm that he is indeed using Inferi.'_

The rest was just a more detailed discussion of Voldemort's new recruits, and Harry threw it aside impatiently. 

'What about Halloween?' he asked Luna. 'Halloween of nineteen-eighty-one?' 

Luna flipped through the stack of papers. 

'Doesn't look like it's here,' she said. 'Probably nothing much happened. Halloween had traditionally been a quiet night for the Death Eaters.' 

'Really?' 

'Well, yes. Why... did something happen on Halloween nineteen-eighty-one in your reality?' 

'I'll say,' said Harry. 

Luna looked curiously at him. He sat back with a sigh. 

'That was the night Voldemort killed my parents,' he said. 'And then... he was defeated. At my house. Are you saying he wasn't ever even there in this reality? He never even went after my mum and dad?' 

'Well, he isn't particularly fond of them - I mean, they escaped from him several times, and he doesn't like that sort of thing, but he didn't go after them any more than he did the rest of the Order.' 

'And he never... he didn't go after me?' 

'No, why on Earth would he? You were just a baby then...' 

Harry frowned, but there were more important things to figure out for now. 

'Alright, what happened next, then?' he asked. 

Luna handed him the next paper, June 2 nd, 1982. 

_**Ministry makes historic decision** _

_Following the attacks on Muggles in recent weeks, the Ministry of Magic has decided to reveal to Muggles the true nature of the Wizarding World._   _Minister for Magic Silas Drummond made the following statement yesterday afternoon:_

_"We must acknowledge that it is no longer possible to conceal our existence from the Muggles, particularly after the last wave of particularly brutal attacks._   _It is in all of our best interests to warn the Muggles of the danger of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. To this end, I will join with the Muggle Prime Minister tomorrow afternoon on the Muggle television to make a statement on the matter._

Harry put the paper down, and sighed. 

'Do you think Rita would mind if I took these away to read them over properly?' he asked. 

'I shouldn't think so,' said Luna. 'So long as we let her know. Here, I'll write her a note. It's time we were getting back to the Hall, anyway. We'll be going up to our rooms in a bit.' 

Luna wrote a note for Rita, Harry gathered up the papers, and they went back down to the Hall, which was apparently the name of the large room where they had met that morning, and eaten their meals. 

'Where have you two been?' Ron asked, when they came back to sit at the table with the others. 

'I wanted to have a look at the newspapers,' Harry explained, showing Ron the pile in his arms. 

'What for?' 

'No reason. Just curious,' said Harry. 

At the other side of the Hall, McGonagall cleared her throat. The students quietened down immediately and looked expectantly at her. 

'I'm sure you're all eager to get to your rooms, so that you can get plenty of sleep in time for your classes tomorrow,' she said. 'So I'll let you go now. But I need to talk to the sixth year Wizarding students for a few minutes, if they'd come over here?' 

The others began to get up and leave, in twos and threes. 

'I'll see you in the morning,' Ginny told Harry, giving him a brief hug. He kissed her on the forehead and watched her disappear out of the door. 

Belatedly, he remembered his brotherly responsibilities. 

'Ed, do you know where you need to go?' he asked. 

'Yes, I'm  _fine_ ,' said Edward. 'I'm not a baby, you know.' 

'Alright, sleep well,' Harry shrugged, following Ron and Hermione over to where McGonagall was sitting. 

'Well,' said McGonagall, once the sixth years had all assembled, 'now that you are all sixteen, you are old enough to help defend the school, should it become necessary. Now, the school is well hidden and protected, so the need will probably not arise, but it isn't sensible to get complacent. Teams regularly patrol the school, particularly at night. You are all old enough now to join one of these teams. Now, each team is made up of a sixth year, a seventh year and a teacher or other adult from the Order. Generally at least two teams patrol every night. Any questions so far?' 

The sixth years shook their heads. 

'Good,' said McGonagall. 'Now, I'll tell you what teams you're all on.' 

Harry listened for his name - he was patrolling with a seventh year he didn't know, and Professor Lupin. 

'Anthony, you'll be on patrol tonight with Amanda Judge and Professor Flitwick. Hermione, you'll be with myself and Cormac McLaggen,' McGonagall said. 'Take half an hour to sort things out in your rooms, and then come back here.' 

'Yes, Professor,' said Hermione and Anthony. 

'The rest of you, go and get some sleep. You'll need it,' said McGonagall. 'Goodnight, all of you.' 

'Goodnight, Professor!' Harry said with the others, following Ron out of the Hall and up the stairs. 

Harry followed Ron into a room with eight beds, four along each long wall. This was apparently the dormitory for all of the sixth-year boys, because Dudley and two other Muggle students were already there, lounging on their beds and talking. 

'I'm not sure I like the idea of Hermione patrolling with Cormac,' Ron said darkly. 'It always seemed to me that he had a bit of a thing for her.' 

'Cheer up,' said Neville. 'They'll be with McGonagall - they'll have to keep their minds on the job!' 

'Yeah, I suppose,' said Ron, but he didn't look convinced. 

'Come on, mate, Hermione loves you,' said Dudley, coming over to join them. 'Cormac may be a total berk, but you can rely on Hermione.' 

'Of course he can!' said Harry, bracingly. 

He chose the bed next to Ron's and started putting his things in the drawer. Ron did the same. 

'So, how are things with Kitty?' Neville asked Dudley. 

'Oh, not bad,' Dudley said cagily. 'You know... well, pretty good, actually.' 

Harry lay back on his bed and listened to the other boys talking. He wanted to read the newspapers, but he also wanted to make sure he picked up on anything he ought to know about his friends. He also wanted to work out how he had arrived here, and how he could get back. But most of all, he wanted to sleep. 

He got into his pyjamas when the other boys did, and fell asleep almost right away, his dreams filled with mirrors and palaces and blood all over the floor. 


	6. Chapter 6

Harry spent much of his spare time that week reading through the newspapers, and asking Luna questions for clarification. It was a frightening story. The progress of Voldemort's takeover was chronicled starkly on the front pages. 

For January 23rd, 1983, Harry read: 

_**He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Makes Announcement** _

_Yesterday evening, in a meeting attended by many Death Eaters, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named declared himself ruler_   _of Great Britain._

_Needless to say, the Ministry of Magic and the Muggle Government do not accept this._

By that May, it was worse: 

_**Famous Muggle Building Taken Over** _

_He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has taken over one of the most important and iconic buildings in London - Buckingham Palace, the home of the Muggle Royal Family, and traditional symbol of British pride and history._

_At present, it has not been confirmed whether anyone was resident at the palace when the Death Eaters moved in._

Then, in October: 

_**Muggle murders encouraged by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named** _

_He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, currently styling himself ruler of Great Britain, yesterday passed a number of "laws", the most unbelievable of which was one relating to the treatment of Muggles._

_Under this "law", mistreatment and murder of Muggles is actively encouraged, and witches and wizards are advised to think of Muggles as no better than animals._

_The Ministry of Magic has condemned all of the new "laws", and the Minister made it clear in his statement soon afterward_   _that anyone found mistreating Muggles will be dealt with using the utmost severity of the law._

By April of the following year, the Prophet was printed on cheap paper, and there were no pictures: 

_**Attacks on Muggles Continue** _

_Numbers of Muggle killings are on the rise every day as the ranks of the Death Eaters grow._   _Even the most conservative estimates now place the death toll in the thousands._

_Ministry of Magic initiatives have so far been unsuccessful in protecting the Muggle population, who live in fear of being enslaved or killed._

_Sources have suggested that the Order of the Phoenix_   _is arranging safe passage out of the country for some Muggles, and helping others to go into hiding._

The headline on July 2 nd of 1984 shocked Harry more than the others put together: 

_**Muggle Rights Activist Captured** _

_Arthur Weasley,_   _a former employee of the Ministry of Magic and_   _always an outspoken defender of Muggle rights, was captured by Death Eaters_   _two days ago, while attempting_   _to transport a large family of Muggles to America for safety._

_It is assumed that he is being confined_   _in Buckingham Palace._

Harry flipped hurriedly through the papers, until he found the one for October 14 th: 

_**Daring Escape From Buckingham Palace** _

_Arthur Weasley, captured by Death Eaters three months ago, has been reunited with family and friends after making_   _a miraculous escape from Buckingham Palace._

_Sources suggest that he may have had help from the Order of the Phoenix, of which he is rumoured to be a member._

Harry could only imagine how awful Ron and Ginny and the other Weasleys must have felt, losing their father for so long. And then, of course, he had been killed in the battle at Buckingham Palace, some six years later. He didn't know how Ron and Ginny - and of course, Hermione too - could stay so positive in the face of everything. He hardly knew how anyone could. 

After that, there were a few more headlines about the rising numbers of Muggle deaths, but the true, final takeover was not chronicled. 

'That happened after the Prophet offices got destroyed,' Luna told him, as they put the papers away. 'Voldemort declared himself leader, Dumbledore was hunting for the horcruxes, everything was very bad for a long time.' 

'But at least all the horcruxes are gone now, right?' 

Luna shook her head, and sighed. 

'We think he made some more, after the battle. And now that he knows we know about them, they'll be better guarded too.' 

Harry grimaced. 'No wonder you're all living in secret,' he said. 'It sounds like he's impossible to beat now...' 

'Nothing's impossible,' said Luna, serenely. 'Remember, people said that toads couldn't fly! We just have to trust that everything will be alright.' 

* * * 

The week went by quickly. Lessons were more or less the same as they had been at Hogwarts, except that classes were smaller and some of the teachers were different. Also, he found that there was a lot of emphasis on Defence Against the Dark Arts, which suited him fine since it had always been his best subject. And he was being taught by Professor Lupin, who had always been his favourite teacher. 

He patrolled at night twice that week, with Lupin and a boy named Simon Pevensie. Both times were uneventful - all they did was walk the school, watching and listening for intruders. There was plenty of time for talking, and Lupin was fond of reminiscing about his youth with Sirius, James and Lily. He didn't mention Peter, and Harry was a little afraid to ask about him. But Lupin was a good storyteller and Harry and Simon both found the stories entertaining, and Harry's delight at hearing about his parents was enhanced by the knowledge that he would be with them again that weekend. 

When he wasn't patrolling, or poring over the newspapers either by himself or with Luna, he was mostly in the Hall. Everyone tended to congregate there after dinner for most of the evening, and Harry usually found himself doing homework with Ron, Hermione and Neville, or helping Ed with his, or sitting with his arms wrapped around Ginny and hearing about her day. It had been easier than he'd imagined to cope with his sudden relationship with Ginny - she was easy to talk to, and had a wonderful sense of humour. It was just like spending time with her over the summer had been, except with added kissing. 

Even the teachers were usually in the Hall for some of the evening - McGonagall would be playing chess with Flitwick, or gossiping with Hooch; Lupin and Sirius would be talking, or recounting one of their adventures to a group of rapt children; Hestia and Mrs Figg were often arguing vehemently about a book they had just read. 

On Friday, everyone congregated in the Hall after afternoon classes, and listened to an announcement by McGonagall. 

'Now, most of you know how this goes by now,' she said. 'We'll Portkey you all home, in family groups, in alphabetical order. So, wait here until your name is called, and hopefully we can get you all back home in time for tea. Now, Hannah Abbot?' 

Hannah hugged Susan and said goodbye to the other sixth years before walking to the front of the room, where Professor Flitwick was holding an old tie. As she grabbed hold of it, both she and Flitwick disappeared. 

'Susan Bones?' said McGonagall. 

The students began to talk amongst themselves as the room slowly emptied. 

'Harry?' said Ginny, slipping her hand into his as they all sat at one of the big tables. 'Could I talk to you? In private?' 

She got up, and he followed her to the corner of the room, where it was a little quieter. 

'What is it, Gin?' he asked. 

'Well, I... you know I missed you over the summer, don't you?' 

'Of course! I missed you too!' 

'Well... we've been together a pretty long time now... almost a year...' 

'Yes...' 

'Harry... when are we going to sleep together?' 

Harry just stared at her, mouth open. 

'Oh, come on, Harry,' she sighed. 'Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. All those times we had to stop ourselves from going too far... I just think maybe it's time we didn't.' 

Harry gulped. 

'But, Gin... do you really think we're ready? Don't you think... we're a bit young?' 

'No, I don't! I think we're mature enough to handle it. Don't you?' 

'Well, of course... it's just... a big decision, that's all.' 

'We don't have to decide right away,' she soothed. 'Why don't you think about it over the weekend? I just wanted to bring it up before the end of the week.' 

'Alright,' said Harry, with a smile. 'I'll think about it over the weekend.' 

'McGonagall's already up to M, you'll be going in a minute,' Ginny said. 'You'd better go and make sure you've got everything.' 

He kissed her, she hugged him, and they went to join the others. 

'Have you got everything, Ed?' Harry asked, checking his own bag. 

'Of course,' sighed Ed. 'Victoria already asked me.' 

'Have a good weekend, everyone!' said Victoria. 'See you on Monday.' 

'Potters!' called McGonagall. 

Harry, Victoria, Dudley and Ed went to join Lupin with the Portkey, and within a few moments they were back in the kitchen at Godric's Hollow. 

Harry was lost for a moment in a blur of sight and sound, as everyone hugged everyone else. Marigold jumped on his back, squealing, while Daisy hung from Dudley's neck. Lily hugged each of the returning children in turn, asking them questions in rapid succession. 

'Are you alright? Were you good? Ed, how was your first week? Do you have any homework? How was Ginny? How was Kitty? Did you learn anything new? Harry, have you been in detention yet?' 

'Lil, leave them be for a second!' James laughed, coming in from the next room. 'There'll be plenty of time over the weekend to hear what they've been up to, give the poor things a bit of room!' 

'Daddy!' squealed Victoria, skipping across the room to hug her father. He whirled her around once, then set her back down. 

'Everything alright at the school, Remus?' he asked. 

'All quiet so far,' he said. 'I'd better get back, I've still got one lot to take home. See you all soon!' 

He kissed Lily, patted James on the back and waved goodbye to the children before clutching the Portkey again and disappearing. 

'Well, Ed,' said Lily. 'Since you're back from your first ever week at school, Daisy suggested that we should make your favourite dinner...' 

'Bangers and mash?' Ed asked. 

'Yes, bangers and mash! It's nearly ready, too. Take your things to your rooms, wash your hands and get back down here!' 

Dinner was a noisy meal, as everyone exchanged stories of what they had been up to all week. 

'We baked, the Muggle way!' Daisy said. 'And it was easy, wasn't it, Mari? We made a cake for afters!' 

'And Mum did a new potion with us,' Marigold added. 

'What did you do, Victoria?' Lily asked, helping herself to more mashed potato from the pot in the centre of the table. 

'Ooh, lots,' Victoria said. 'Uncle Remus has been teaching us all about curses! And Kitty showed me a new way to plait my hair.' 

'You're quiet, Harry,' James said. 'Everything alright?' 

'Yeah, fine,' said Harry. 'Just a bit tired, that's all. I've started going on patrol this week, I don't think I've really caught up on my sleep yet.' 

'Aah,' said Lily. 'Well, make sure you get plenty of early nights when you're not patrolling! Don't stay up too late talking!' 

'That's rich coming from you,' said James. 'I heard that the other girls in your dormitory never got a wink of sleep if you had something to talk about.' 

Lily punched him on the arm, and grinned at Harry. 

'This is a clear case of 'Do as I say, not as I do',' she said. 'And besides, we didn't have to patrol. It's different.' She leaned over to ruffle Harry's hair. 'Well, you're sixteen now, and while you're away at school I can't tell you what to do,' she said. 'But do use your judgement, won't you, Harry?' 

'Of course, Mum!' he said, brightly. 'Dud, could you pass the carrots?' 

'Oh, yes, how are things with Kitty?' James asked Dudley. 

'Good,' said Dudley, blushing furiously. 

'Ooh, any details?' Marigold asked. 

'Definitely not!' Dudley grinned. 'If you want something to be nosy about, why don't you ask Harry how he and Ginny are getting on?' 

'Ooooh?' said Lily, turning to Harry. 

'I don't want to talk about it,' he said. 

'Spoilsport!' said Victoria. 

Harry laughed, feeling very uncomfortable. He had almost forgotten the conversation with Ginny in the excitement of coming back to his family, but now that he had remembered again, it weighed rather heavily on his mind. 

He didn't stop thinking about it all evening. After dinner they played cards, Daisy and Marigold were sent to bed with much protest, and Ed followed a little later, tired out from his first week at school. Lily and James talked over the news of the week with the older children, before they all went to bed. But Harry barely paid attention to any of it. 

It was even worse once he was in bed, in the dark, with nothing to distract him. Ginny wanted to  _sleep with him_. Was she really ready? Was  _he_? 

Suddenly, it hit Harry that he  _couldn't_  sleep with Ginny. It would be wrong. She thought he was the other Harry, the Harry who had been going out with her for a year, the Harry who had been in love with her for months, who knew her well. 

For the first time, he wondered what had happened to the Harry who was supposed to be here. Was he living Harry's life, back at Hogwarts? How awful to be catapulted from his loving family and suddenly orphaned and in a strange place! He must miss his parents and siblings terribly. And would he find out that Sirius was dead? Would he be upset that he wasn't dating Ginny? 

All week Harry had been wavering, wondering if it might be possible to stay here with his family, and help make things better. But this thought settled it - he had no right to steal the other Harry's life, no right to be loved by his parents, certainly no right to sleep with his girlfriend. 

He had to find a way back. He resolved to get Luna's help on the matter as soon as he got back to school. And, with that thought, he fell asleep, feeling better about things. 

* * * 

The weekend passed pleasantly. They couldn't go out for fear of being spotted by Death Eaters, but it was a rainy weekend anyway, so they didn't mind. They weren't able to do much magic either - any magic left traces that could be detected, so only essential magic was allowed. Harry spent Saturday morning doing homework with Victoria, Dudley and Ed, and Saturday afternoon chatting with his mother as she rearranged the kitchen cupboards. On Sunday he slept almost until lunchtime, and in the afternoon the family all sat in the living room together, Lily engrossed in a crossword, James and Dudley playing, and growing increasingly frustrated, with a Muggle toy called a Rubik's Cube, Victoria and Ed reading (a romance novel and a comic respectively), and Harry drawing pictures with the twins. In the evening they talked, and Lily sent all of the children to bed early for school the next day. 

Harry overslept again, Victoria helped him to get ready in time again with a martyred sigh, there were goodbye hugs, and soon he was back in the Hall. 

He spotted Luna at once. She was sitting upside-down on a chair, her feet hanging over the back, her hair brushing the floor. 

'Good weekend?' he asked, leaning over her. 

'Not bad,' she said. 'I can see right up your nose...' 

'Sorry. Look, I need to talk to you...' 

She swung around to sit upright, and looked earnestly at him. 

'Tell me what it is now, before too many people arrive.' 

Harry explained quickly what he had been thinking about over the weekend. 

'And so, I need to get back,' he finished. 'And I think the only way to do it is to find that mirror again. Do you think there's any chance we could go to Grimmauld Place and use it?' 

'I don't think so,' said Luna. 

'Well, what if we asked Sirius really nicely?' 

'Oh, Harry. Sirius doesn't own Grimmauld Place. Bellatrix Lestrange does. When Sirius joined the Order, his parents left it to her instead.' 

'But the mirror is probably still there, right?' 

'I don't know, it might be, if it was ever there to begin with in this reality...' 

'Well, I have to find out...' 

'Harry, you can't just walk into Grimmauld Place!' 

'I can,' he said, firmly. 'Because I have to.' 


	7. Chapter 7

'Well, you can't just stroll in any old how,' Luna said for the umpteenth time, as she and Harry sat in Rita's library after dinner on Monday night. 'They'd catch you in a second and then you'd be done for.' 

'And I can't Portkey in?' 

'Nope. Can't use a Portkey anywhere in the centre of London.' 

'Floo powder?' 

'I've heard they guard the fireplaces.' 

'Hmm...' said Harry, idly tracing shapes in the dust on the shelf beside them. 

'And if I was to walk in, what would happen?' 

'Intruder Charms, I expect.' 

'Well... what if I set it off, but they couldn't find me?' 

'How do you mean?' Luna asked. 

'Does my dad still have an Invisibility Cloak?' 

Luna grinned. 'No.' 

'Oh... any idea where I could get one?' 

'He gave it to you. On your eleventh birthday.' 

'Oh! Useful...' 

'Yeah, your mum wasn't too impressed, she's very safety-conscious and she didn't want you to go off having adventures, but your dad thought you could be trusted.' 

'Oh. Could I?' 

'Mostly. You've been in trouble a few times, nothing  _too_  serious.' 

'Glad to hear it.' 

'So, you think if you used the cloak you could get in?' 

'It seems the most likely way. And now I need to figure out how to actually get to London...' 

'Oh, that's easy enough. Apparate.' 

'But I don't know how! We don't learn until we're seventeen!' 

'Really? Gosh, we learn at thirteen here. It's an important skill. Never mind, I can take you side-along. It's easy that way.' 

'I didn't think you were going to come!' 

'Well, Harry, I can hardly leave you in London by yourself, you wouldn't have a clue! You'd be caught in a second.' 

'Well then, tell me what I need to know. I don't want you to get hurt, this is my problem.' 

'Oh, don't be silly. I'm coming with you.' 

Harry sighed, as Luna frowned at him. She didn't look the least bit dreamy today, but determined and forceful. He had often seen Hermione look that way, and he knew it meant business. 

'Alright,' he sighed. 'But you can't come inside the house. The cloak isn't big enough to cover both of us.' 

She shrugged, accepting the compromise for now. 

'When do you want to go?' she asked. 

He sighed, considering. He wanted the chance to see his parents again before he went, but the longer he put it off, the more difficult it would be. 

'Tomorrow night,' he said, finally. 

'Alright,' said Luna. 'We should wait until everyone's gone to bed. We'll have to get past the patrols, too.' 

* * * 

Harry, unsurprisingly, slept badly on Monday night, and so on Tuesday he was sluggish and stupid, and even Flitwick expressed dismay at his lack of attention. 

'What's wrong, Harry?' Ginny asked, as they sat together at lunch. 'You're awfully quiet... is everything alright? Is it about... you know? Because I'm sorry if I was pushy...' 

'No, it's not that,' Harry said weakly. 

'He didn't sleep much last night,' Dudley said. 'You were tossing and turning all night, mate.' 

'Sorry,' Harry mumbled. 

'And you're not eating your lunch,' Hermione pointed out. 'You'll be starving come dinner time if you just leave it.' She glanced sideways at Ron, who was shovelling down his food as usual. 'Take a leaf out of Ron's book, he's got the right idea.' 

'Ha, ha,' said Ron, indistinctly. 

'I'm  _fine_ ,' said Harry, a little crossly. 'Just a bit of an off day, that's all. I'm allowed to have an off day, aren't I?' 

'Of course you are,' said Hermione. 'But we just wanted to know if there was anything we could do to help.' 

'Well, there  _isn't_ ,' Harry snapped. 

Hermione's face fell, and Ron glared at Harry. Harry sighed. 

'I'm sorry,' he said. 'Just ignore me, I'm being horrible. It isn't your fault, Hermione. And, Ginny, it isn't yours either. It's nobody's fault but my own. I'll be in a better mood tomorrow, hopefully.' 

Ginny squeezed his hand under the table before turning to talk to Victoria. Harry spent the rest of the meal in silence. 

The afternoon was not much better - Harry had Potions with Hestia Jones, but he wasn't really paying attention and his potion was a mess. Hestia just sighed and wished him better luck next time. 

By dinner time, Harry's stomach was churning with nerves. He didn't feel equal to conversation, but he sat with Victoria and Ed anyway, since this would be his last chance to see them. He asked them how their days had been, and tried to listen properly. 

He went to bed early, hugging Hermione, patting Ron on the back and kissing Ginny before he went. They looked confused, but they smiled, seemingly taking it as an apology for his moody behaviour. 

He got into bed, still fully dressed, but didn't sleep, waiting anxiously. He and Luna had decided that midnight would be late enough. He feigned sleep as the other boys came in, got into bed, talked over the day, and then one by one dozed off. 

When midnight came, he took out his cloak and sneaked down to the Bell Room to meet Luna. 

'Here,' she said, handing him a rough woollen coat. 'We'll have to pretend to be Muggles, you'll need to wear this. Follow me, we need to get out of the house before we can apparate.' 

Wordlessly, he followed Luna through the corridors and down stairs until they reached an outer door. Behind it was a gravel-covered courtyard. They stepped carefully, trying not to make the gravel crunch. 

'I haven't seen the school from the outside yet...' Harry mentioned, once they were away from the courtyard and concealed in the row of trees opposite the house. 

'Nobody does very much,' said Luna. 'There are spies everywhere. At the moment nobody knows that this house is even in use. It's better not to go outside and ruin the illusion.' 

Harry looked back at the house. It was a large manor house, but it looked dilapidated and abandoned, despite the comfort inside. 

'Clever,' he said. 

'Come on,' said Luna. 'We should go quickly. Put that coat on. We'll apparate a few streets away from Grimmauld Place, just in case.' 

Harry shrugged on the coat she had given him, and grabbed onto the arm she offered, shutting his eyes tightly. He felt the same odd, twisting feeling that he'd had when Dumbledore had apparated him that summer - how long ago it seemed now! And yet it had only been a few weeks. 

When Harry opened his eyes, he was standing in a dingy alley. There was rubbish scattered over the ground, and the walls were heavily graffitied and splashed with what looked like blood. 

'Come on,' said Luna. 'Walk like you know where you're going. Don't stop if anyone shouts at us.' 

He followed her out of the alley and into a large main street. It was rather dark - what streetlights there were, were either smashed or mangled into odd shapes. The light came from flickering fires at intervals on either side of the road. The road was full of potholes and puddles. As they walked, Harry's eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, and he could make out the shapes of tents and lean-tos lining the road, and then 

people crowding around the fires. He could hear muttering, talking, occasional cries from far away. Occasionally he saw a house - some had sagging walls and roofs that had caved in, many more were just piles of rubble. 

'Most of the Muggle houses got destroyed,' Luna whispered. 'The Muggles who are still free live in shanty towns like this one. There are a few houses left, but you'd be a fool to try and live in one. Knocking houses down is sport for Death Eaters.' 

'Any food?' cried a woman from the roadside. 'We've got good stuff to trade! Warm 

blankets, paper, shoes!' 

'Ignore her,' said Luna. 'If we answer we'll never get past.' 

They walked on, eventually leaving the Muggle settlement behind. The streets now were quiet, and their steps echoed loudly. At one point, they passed what looked like a large pile of bones, and later several cars crushed out of shape in a heap. 

After a few minutes, they reached Grimmauld Place. They hid in the entrance of an alley while Harry took out his cloak and wand. 

'I want to come in with you,' said Luna. 'I don't want to stay out here by myself... bad things can happen to girls out by themselves in London.' 

'You can't come in with me,' said Harry, firmly. 'There's only room for one under the cloak. You'll have to apparate back now, before I go in.' 

'But I want to help you!' 

'You already have helped me. I'll be alright, I'll be invisible. Everything will be fine. Go back now, Luna. I'm not going in until you leave.' 

She looked at him for a moment, biting her lip. 

'Alright,' she said at last. 'Good luck!' 

She flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly, and he hugged back. 

'Thanks for all your help!' he said, throwing the cloak around his shoulders. 'Go on, go.' 

With a sigh and a small pop, she apparated away. Harry arranged the cloak so that he was entirely covered, and approached Number Twelve. 

As he walked up the path, a loud klaxon sounded, and Harry winced. That must be the Intruder Charm. Still, it didn't matter. He was invisible. Instead of going up to the front door, he passed it and went down the stairs to the basement entrance - the window there was big enough to climb through, he had it on good authority from Fred and George.  _Alohomora_  was enough to open the window, and he clambered into the kitchen after checking that there was nobody around. He hoped the mirror would still be in the room where he had found it originally, and in any case that was the most sensible place to start looking. 

He crept out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He heard voices in the hall and his heart almost stopped - that was Bellatrix Lestrange speaking, and a man... her husband, Rodolphus. 

'It was probably just a cat again, Bella,' Rodolphus was saying. 'The door is still closed.' 

'Kreacher, check the kitchen,' Bellatrix said, ignoring her husband. 

Harry pressed himself against the wall as the house elf limped past, muttering. Had he closed the window behind him? He was fairly sure he had... 

'You're entirely too complacent, Dolphus,' Bella said. 'You think we're safe, just because the Dark Lord is in power? There are still those who would harm us.' 

'What, the Order of the Phoenix? They're all but dead! And I doubt any Muggles could depose the Dark Lord.' 

Harry listened to them arguing as he crept up the stairs. He tried to tread carefully... there was a step that creaked, he knew. He avoided it, but he didn't see what was on the top step - a toy dragon. Its head squeaked as he stood on it, and he froze. 

'There's someone on the stairs!' Bella cried. 

Harry heard them running along the corridor and up the stairs - he had to think of a hiding place! They would surely guess that it was someone in an Invisibility Cloak, and search for him. There was no time to try any doors, which in any case might well be locked. 

The banisters along the landing looked strong enough to take his weight... He climbed onto the other side of them, holding on tightly with feet and hands. Now he was hanging in empty space, over the hard, cold floor of the hall. If he fell, he would certainly be heard, and probably badly hurt. 

He watched as Bellatrix and Rodolphus kicked about the landing, feeling for an intruder. He shifted his feet, wedged between two banisters, a little further out from the landing, and pressed his arms as close to the banisters as he could. 

It seemed like he hung there forever, heart pounding, palms growing sweaty with the effort of holding on. His nose itched, but he couldn't scratch it. His mouth was dry. 

Finally, Kreacher came up the stairs to tell them that the kitchen appeared normal. Rodolphus said he was tired of chasing after figments of Bellatrix's imagination, and left. Bellatrix herself searched half-heartedly for a few minutes more before leaving too. 

After a few moments, Harry climbed back over the banisters and sat on the cold floorboards, getting his breath back. He felt shaky, and too hot. His fingers ached, and there were painful red lines across his hands where the banisters had cut into him. But he hadn't been caught. He was safe, so far. 

After a few minutes, Harry got up and carried on. He was careful to watch his step, as he climbed up another flight of stairs, and went down several corridors. He reached the entrance to the room where he had found the mirror without further incident. He opened the door quietly. 

And there it was. The golden-framed mirror. 

The room looked just as it had in his own reality. Harry stood for a moment and just stared, not quite believing that it would be this easy. He shook his head. It hadn't been easy, he had almost been caught. And he should go now, before he really  _did_  get caught. 

When he had come to this reality, he had ended up where the other Harry had been - it was possible that the other Harry would arrive here once he went through the mirror. He would take the cloak off and leave it for him to use, so that he would be able to escape safely. 

Harry was about to close the door behind him and prepare to leave when he heard voices, coming down the corridor towards him. He froze. 

'Bella, I grow tired of your superior attitude,' Rodolphus was saying. 'You are no better than the rest of us.' 

'That's all  _you_  know,' Bellatrix said. 

It sounded as though they had stopped right outside the room with the mirror. Harry didn't dare move - the door was still ajar, and he would need to take the cloak off before he left. 

'What,  _precisely_ , do you mean by that?' Rodolphus asked. 

'The Dark Lord trusts me above all others, you know that.' 

'Not exactly. He trusts you equally with the other Horcrux Guardians, I know that.' 

'Pah, Snape and Dolohov and all those idiots? They don't deserve to be so well-regarded.' 

Harry had to stifle a gasp. Snape, a Death Eater? Harry knew that he had been one before, but Dumbledore had assured him that he was working for the Order now. Perhaps in this reality he had never switched sides? 

'They've served the Dark Lord just as well as you, and some of them much longer.' Rodolphus said wearily. 

'I don't care.' 

Rodolphus sighed heavily. It sounded to Harry as though they had had this argument many times before. 

'Bella, you should be content. You've been entrusted with knowledge of one of the Dark Lord's horcruxes, a piece of his very  _soul_. Why can't you stop wanting more? We are one of the most powerful families in Europe, our children are assured a bright future, we want for nothing. And yet you persist in this ridiculous need to be better 

than our friends, our allies.' 

'I  _am_  better. I know more.' 

'Oh, and what do you know?' 

'I know where  _all_  of the horcruxes are,' Bella said, smugly. 

'Don't be ridiculous, how could you? The location of each one has only been entrusted to a single Death Eater!' 

Bella laughed. Then there was silence for several moments before Rodolphus spoke. 

'Bella... you didn't...' 

'I did!' 

'You... you spied on the Dark Lord himself?' 

Harry's mouth opened in amazement. It seemed that Bellatrix was just as crazy in this reality as she had been in his own. 

'It was for his own good! I can be more help to him if I know where every horcrux is, in case something should happen.' 

'And does he know about this?' 

'I... not yet.' 

'So you at least recognise that he would not approve...' 

'He wouldn't understand, not at first...' 

'He is our  _Master_. He is the  _Dark Lord_. And you presume to know better than he does what is best for him?!' 

'The Dark Lord... has a lot on his mind, and he may not always...' 

There was the sound of hurried footsteps. 

'Dolphus, where are you going?' 

'I'm going to tell the Dark Lord of your treachery!' 

'NO! Dolphus... you would be blamed too! And think of the children!' 

'If you really cared for the children, you wouldn't have done this! You've put us all in danger, Bella!' 

Harry heard Rodolphus running down the stairs, and Bellatrix following. The coast was clear. 

But how could he leave now? What he had just heard was intelligence that could be vital to the Order. He couldn't be sure exactly what would happen when he went through the mirror, couldn't be certain that he could send them the information another way. 

There was no choice. He had to go back. 

Harry took a long look at the mirror, then turned and crept back the way he had come, down the flights of stairs, into the empty kitchen and out through the window. 

He emerged onto the street, looking around warily, and saw Luna, hovering behind a tree. He took off his cloak and strode over. 

'Luna, what are you doing here?' he asked. 

'Are you still... the other Harry?' she asked. 

'Yes, I didn't go through, but why are you still here?' 

'It occurred to me that, if you didn't get through, you wouldn't know the way to get back to school.' 

'I...' Harry stopped. 'Well, it looks like you were right.' 

'I didn't want you to be wandering all alone. Anything could happen to you.' 

'How long have you been here, Luna? It's nearly morning!' 

And indeed, the sky was beginning to pale and the sun was just visible behind the row of houses. 

'Almost since you went in...' 

'Oh, Luna...' 

'Come on, let's go back.' 

He took hold of her arm again, and in a moment they were standing just outside the courtyard of the school. They approached across the gravel again, and went in through the side door. 

McGonagall was waiting for them. 

'Harry James Potter, Luna Ailis Lovegood, where the  _hell_  have you been?' 


	8. Chapter 8

McGonagall stared furiously at Harry and Luna, who exchanged glances. 

'You've been gone for hours!' McGonagall continued. 'No word where you were, no sign of you, nobody knew anything...' 

'Well, we...' Harry began, weakly. 

'And your parents have been frantic, both of you! Harry, your mother and father hurried here in the middle of the night; Lily's been beside herself!' 

'Mum and Dad are here?' Harry asked. 

'Well, of course they are, we had to let them know right away that you were missing! Good grief, where  _were_  you both?' 

Harry sighed. Luna looked at him, and shrugged. 

'It's a bit of a long story,' he said. 

'Well then,' said McGonagall. 'You'd better come and tell it, hadn't you?' 

She shook her head angrily at them once more and floated off down the corridor. They followed her into her office, a small, cosy room with bookshelves lining the walls, a fire in the grate, and Lily, James and Luna's father sitting anxiously around the fireplace. 

When Lily saw Harry, she jumped up and flew to hug him tightly. 

'How could you?' she asked in a choked voice, not letting go of him. 'How could you run off like that? We've been worried sick!' 

'I'm sorry,' Harry said, his voice muffled. 

'We had a very good reason,' Luna was saying to her father, as the two of them sat down. 

'I'm sure you did,' he said. 'But we were still very worried. I hope that you did whatever you needed to do.' 

'We didn't,' said Luna. 'But... well, Harry can explain.' 

Lily let go of Harry so that James could hug him, and McGonagall conjured a chair for him to sit between his parents, followed by hot drinks and biscuits, which Harry and Luna accepted gratefully. 

'Go on then, Harry,' McGonagall said, once he had put down his drink. 'What was so important that you had to run off and send us all into a panic?' 

'You're not going to believe me,' Harry said. 

'Try me,' said McGonagall. 

So Harry explained. 

'I'm not who you think I am,' he said. He stopped, shocked, as everyone in the room except Luna pulled out their wands and pointed them at him. 'Oh, no, nothing like that!' he said. 'I'm Harry Potter, I'm not a Death Eater or anything! I'm just... a different Harry, that's all.' 

He explained about the mirror, while they all stared at him, still holding their wands firmly pointed towards him. 

'How do we know you're telling the truth?' James asked him. 

'Well... I don't know,' said Harry. 'Isn't there some way you can test? Can't you give me Veritaserum or something? I promise you it's true!' 

'Let's assume for a moment that this is all true - why didn't you tell us right away?' Lily asked. 'Why keep it a secret?' 

'Well, I didn't think anyone would believe me,' said Harry. 'And I didn't know what to do... I wasn't sure what was going on, I wasn't sure if it was real. And then... after a while, I... well, I didn't want to tell anyone. I was enjoying myself.' 

'Enjoying yourself?' McGonagall asked, suspiciously. 

'Yes,' said Harry, going a little red. 'I like it here. It's different than where I come from.' 

'Different how?' asked James. 'I can't imagine anywhere dreadful enough to make this an improvement...' 

'I didn't say it was dreadful,' said Harry. 'Just different.' He sighed. 'Well, if you really want to know, you're dead there.' 

'Dead?' 

'You both are... you both died when I was a baby.' 

'Oh...' Lily reached out to squeeze Harry's hand. 'Oh, how awful, James...' 

'What else?' asked James, still looking suspiciously at Harry. 

'Well, Voldemort never took over. He was defeated. Everything was fine. Until a couple of years ago he came back, but the Order are still putting up a pretty good fight, and it's nowhere near over yet.' 

'And?' 

'And... um... well, everyone goes to school at Hogwarts... the Daily Prophet is still going strong... Dumbledore's alive, he's leading the fight against Voldemort...' 

'Look at me, Harry,' said McGonagall. 

Harry obeyed, and found himself locked in McGonagall's gaze, unable to look away. He knew what this was - it was Legilimency. She was reading his mind, seeing if he was really who he claimed to be. He let her, trying not to push her out as she sorted through his memories and they flickered across his mind - his first time on the Hogwarts Express, an exam in the Great Hall, hiding from Dudley in the shed, Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione, school dinners at his primary school, a rare hug from Aunt Petunia when he was very small, and finally, the mirror at Grimmauld Place, his bewilderment, his astonishment... 

Abruptly, he was alone in his head again. McGonagall, looking at him curiously, leaned forward to squeeze his hand. 

'It's true,' she said, sitting back. 'He's from another place, but he is Harry. Sorry about that, Harry. I didn't want to give you any warning, in case you were, you know...' 

'That's fine,' said Harry. 

'But I still don't understand,' said Luna's father. 'Why did you and Luna leave tonight?' 

Harry sat back as Luna explained about the mirror and Grimmauld Place. 

'But I couldn't go,' he said, once she had told her part. 'I heard something important, that the Order needs to know. I had to come back and tell you.' 

'Tell us what?' asked McGonagall. 

'It's about Bellatrix,' said Harry. 'She knows where Voldemort's horcruxes are. She's only supposed to know where one of them is, but she knows the locations of all of them.' 

The others looked at one another, wide-eyed. 

'Thank you, Harry,' said McGonagall after a moment. 'This is a very important piece of intelligence. We weren't even certain that he had made more horcruxes, and we certainly had no way to find out. This is useful. It could be crucial, in fact. Thank you.' 

'No problem,' shrugged Harry, suddenly feeling embarrassed as all eyes in the room turned to him. 

His parents were staring at him. They looked uncomfortable, and he supposed he couldn't blame them. He turned to them. 

'I'm sorry I pretended to be your Harry,' he said. 'I didn't set out to deceive you, honestly. It all just sort of happened...' 

'Don't!' said Lily. 

'You  _are_  our Harry,' said James. 'It doesn't matter if you came from somewhere else; you're still our son.' 

'We understand why you didn't tell us right away,' Lily continued. 'Oh, you must have been so confused when you first got here...' 

Harry shrugged, and Lily leaned over to hug him. James ruffled his hair. Harry couldn't help but smile. 

* * * 

Before long, the rest of the school was getting up ready for lessons, and Harry and Luna attacked their breakfast with enthusiasm after the night's events. Lily and James sat with Lupin and Sirius, who had apparently been drafted at short notice the previous night to watch the twins while Lily and James were at the school. The twins themselves were tucking into breakfast too when the others came down. Hermione, Ron, Dudley, Neville, Ginny, Victoria and Edward all burst in at the same time. It seemed that gossip here travelled just as quickly as it did at Hogwarts, since everyone seemed already to know what had happened. 

'Is it true?' asked Hermione breathlessly, sliding across the bench to sit opposite Harry and gazing intently at him. 'You're from another  _reality_?' 

'Yeah,' said Harry, nonchalantly. 'Toast?' 

Hermione rolled her eyes, but took a piece of toast anyway. 

'That must be really weird... are we all different there?' asked Dudley, pouring cereal into a bowl. 

'Um... not that different,' said Harry. 'Mostly the same, actually. Hermione's more relaxed here, I've noticed.' 

'Gosh, really?' Hermione said. 

'Oh, yeah, you're a bit uptight where I come from,' Harry smirked. 

'Harry James Potter, you're actually  _enjoying_  this, aren't you?' Victoria asked, trying not to smile. 

He considered. 

'Maybe a bit,' he grinned. 

'So... what happens next?' asked Ron. 'Will McGonagall try to send you back where you came from?' 

'Nah, she was angry that I'd been to Grimmauld Place at all, said it was way too dangerous. She says we can't try and get the mirror again. All we can do is try to find out exactly what it does, and in the meantime I'm just supposed to carry on going to my lessons as normal.' 

'So, what's it like in this other place?' Victoria said. 'What am I like?' 

Harry looked at her, and swallowed. 

'Pretty much the same,' he said, after a moment. 'Sorry to disappoint you.' 

Luna caught his eye, and he shrugged. The bell rang for the first lesson, and everyone gathered their things to go to class. 

'Um, Ginny?' Harry said. 'Could you wait a sec?' 

'No problem,' she said, sitting back down. 'I'll catch up with you, Lu.' 

Harry watched anxiously until everyone else was on their way out of the door. 

'It's about... what we talked about the other day,' he said. 

'Sex, you mean?' 

'Yeah... I'm sorry if I seemed weird about it but... I'm not your Harry. It would have been wrong for me to...' 

'Well... that's very gallant, and I appreciate it,' she said, not looking him in the eye. 

'Ginny, I'm sorry if...' 

'Why did you tell Luna and not me?'she blurted suddenly, thumping the table with her fist. 

'I...' 

'I mean, you've never been especially close to Luna... I'm your girlfriend! You should have told me!' 

'I'm sorry... I didn't think anyone would believe me, and it's just that Luna is more... well, she believes in everything...' 

' _I_  would have believed you! I love you!' 

'But... I didn't know that...' 

Ginny frowned at him. 

'We're not a couple in the other place...' he explained, shrugging. 

'We're not?' Ginny's eyes widened and misted with tears. 

'Oh, it's not that I don't like you!' Harry said, hurriedly. 'It's just that nothing's happened between us yet... Well, I haven't known you as long, back there...' 

'You really are a different Harry, aren't you?' 

'I'm afraid so.' 

'So what's happened to  _my_  Harry?' 

'I don't know. He might be back in my reality, there's no way to tell.' 

'What, so that's it? I'll never see him again?' 

'Well, it depends if McGonagall can...' 

'Oh, never mind!' 

Ginny got up and stomped out. Harry followed, shaking his head. 

* * * 

Lessons were a chore that day. McGonagall had suggested that Harry and Luna should go and catch up on some sleep, but at the time he hadn't wanted to. Struggling to concentrate in Charms, it seemed suddenly like a good idea. 

Ron and Hermione and Neville were very kind to him, and Hermione was tactful enough to suggest that they stop asking him questions about the other place when she saw he was getting tired of it. But it wasn't quite right. 

He had almost gone home last night. At the time, he hadn't been sure he wanted to go, but now he had lost his chance, the longing for home was like an ache. Nothing was quite right here. Hermione's accent and mannerisms were just a little different. Ron wasn't so sensitive. Neville, shockingly, was top of the class in Potions. Luna wasn't even as odd as she was back home. 

It was ridiculous, he knew, but he missed Ron's tantrums, the silly arguments between him and Hermione. He missed quiet, meek Neville and lonely, odd Luna. He missed Dean and Seamus, who didn't seem even to be here. He even missed Lavender and Parvati a bit. He missed Hogwarts, the moving staircases, the Great Hall, running down to Hagrid's of an evening or getting shouted at in the library. He missed Dumbledore. 

Harry felt tears building behind his eyes, and grimaced. If Hermione saw him she'd be all sympathetic and make him worse, and that was the last thing he wanted in front of everyone. 

He waited until Flitwick was busy explaining something to Susan, and Hermione was showing Ron where he had gone wrong, and slipped out of the room. 

He found his parents in the Hall, reading with the twins. Lily saw the expression on his face and got up right away, leading him out into an empty corridor. 

'Oh, sweetheart,' she sighed, gazing at him, her face filled with compassion. 

He gulped, then threw his arms around her, sobbing helplessly. She patted him on the back and made soothing noises. 

'You're such a brave boy,' she told him, stroking his hair. He shuddered with every sob, and she helf him closer. 

After a few minutes he stopped and looked up, red-faced and sniffling. 

'I feel a bit silly now...' he said. 

'But do you feel better?' 

'Much, thank you.' 

'Well, good. And it's not silly to want a hug from your mother. You're still just a child you know, even if you've had to shoulder some very adult responsibilities.' She paused, biting her lip. 'I've been talking to Minerva. She told me some of the things she saw in your head - I hope that was alright?' 

'Of course,' said Harry. 

'She was worried about you; she says you've had a hard time of it.' 

'That's an understatement,' Harry grinned weakly. 

'I'm sorry you had such a miserable childhood, Harry... I would have hoped that Petunia would have looked after you like you were her own.' 

'Well... it isn't your fault,' Harry said. 'Don't get upset over it, you didn't even know I existed.' 

'Well, you're here now, and I want you to know that you're very welcome. I don't want you to feel like an outsider. You're still our son.' 

'Aren't you worried about your Harry?' 

'I'm worried about the other Harry, yes... but he'll be alright. There are people there to take care of him, just like we'll take care of you. And you're just as much our Harry as he is.' 

'I knew I'd like you,' Harry said. 

'Well, good. Now let's go and sit with your dad and your sisters for a bit.' 

'I'm not in trouble for sneaking out of Charms?' 

'Not this once, but don't make a habit of it,' she grinned. 

James smiled at them both when they went back in, and patted Harry on the shoulder. 

'Whatever your mum said, I agree,' he said. 

'I said I was running off with Remus,' Lily said, airily. 

'He wouldn't have you!' James retorted. 'Stop being silly, woman, and teach these girls some letters.' 

'He bosses me about something awful,' Lily told Harry. 'Marigold, have you finished copying out those sentences yet?' 

The twins were learning joined-up writing, and Harry watched contentedly for a while. His parents were good teachers, and they worked well together. 

Suddenly, the door flew open and Tonks rushed in. 

'Where's Minerva?' she asked, breathlessly. 

'Teaching a class,' said Lily. 'Why? What's wrong?' 

'Nothing's wrong, exactly... I need to talk to the whole Order, right now...' 

'Go to Minerva's office, we'll round everyone up,' said James. 'Harry, keep an eye on the twins, and keep everyone in here while the grown-ups talk.' 

'Ha ha,' said Harry. 'Alright, will do.' 

Tonks, James and Lily hurried away, and soon Harry and the twins were joined by everyone else, sent to the Hall while their teachers met in the office. 

'What's going on?' Dudley asked. 

'Something important, I think,' said Harry, and told them what Tonks had said. 

'The  _whole_  Order?' asked Hermione. 

Harry nodded. 

'Must be something really important,' said Ron. 

'They said to wait in here until they're finished,' Harry said. 

They watched the door, anxiously. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the stories I most regret never finishing, it had a lot of readers and I know it was just getting to the exciting part...
> 
> To be honest I don't remember very well what was going to happen, although I had planned it out. There was going to be some kind of epic quest for the horcruxes, culminating in a battle with Voldemort. Various people were going to die, Voldemort was going to be defeated, and Harry was going to eventually return to his own reality, magically back on the very day he'd left.


End file.
